The present invention relates generally to mounting arrangements associated with securing a hand guard to a barrel or a receiver of an underlying firearm assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mount clip, and methods for securing a hand guard to a firearm that defines the compression associated with a compression slot associated with the hand guard. In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a mounting arrangement that prevents rotation of the hand guard relative to a receiver when the hand guard is secured to a firearm.
Many firearms, particularly when provided as a rifle or tactical firearm configuration, are provided with a hand guard that extends in a longitudinal direction along at least a rearward portion of a barrel of a respective firearm. A forward facing end of the hand guard is commonly supported by the barrel and a rearward facing end of the hand guard is commonly supported by the barrel and/or the receiver. An outwardly directed surface of the hand guard is frequently configured to accommodate securing of various accessories and/or attachments to the underlying firearm. A substantial portion of the hand guard is also commonly spaced from the barrel to prevent the user from direct contact with the barrel and to mitigate thermal exchange between the barrel and the hand guard as the barrel may become hot during use of the underlying firearm.
Many hand guards provide accessory mounting arrangements, such as the widely used picatinny rail for example, which is commonly identified as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, STANAG 2324 rail, or tactical rail, and provide one heavily accepted standardized platform for attaching auxiliary devices or accessories to a firearm. Such accessories can include sights, telescopic sights, magnifiers, lights, night vision devices, ammunition clips, auxiliary supports such as bipods and/or tripods, for example. Such accessory rails are commonly secured to a firearm to provide a platform that allows the user to easily modify a firearm configuration by quickly attaching and/or detaching desired accessories to and from the projections associated with the respective rails to achieve a desired configuration of the firearm. Many such accessories are configured to tool-lessly cooperate with the underlying rail to improve the efficiency with which the desired accessories can be associated with the underlying firearm. Particularly with sighting accessories, accurate use of the firearm requires repeatable positioning of the respective accessories to the underlying firearm. The accuracy associated with use of the firearm, and particularly use of the firearm with hand guard supporting sighting accessories, can be detrimentally affected if the hand guard should become loose or otherwise movable, even slightly, relative the underlying firearm. Said in another way, providing a mechanically and physically secure mounting arrangement with which a hand guard can be secured to an underlying firearm ensures repeatable desired use of the underlying firearm with any accessories that are supported by a hand guard.
A receiver facing end of many hand guards is commonly supported by a mount body or structure that is disposed between the hand guard and the barrel and/or a forward facing end of the receiver. The mount structure is commonly integrally formed by one of the barrel, a barrel nut, and/or the receiver and is commonly constructed to directly engage the hand guard when the hand guard is secured to the underlying firearm. Frequently, the rearward or receiver facing portion of the hand guard includes a clamp or compression slot and is configured to cooperate with one or more fasteners. Tightening of the fasteners when the hand guard is associated with an underlying firearm manipulates a physical shape of the hand guard and compresses a portion of the hand guard about a mating mounting structure defined by the barrel, barrel nut, and/or the receiver of the underlying firearm. Unfortunately, many known mounting arrangements are susceptible to various undesirable operations which can damage one or more of the structures associated with securing the rearward facing end of the hand guard relative to a firearm.
For instance, overtightening of one or more fasteners associated with securing the hand guard to the firearm can result in damage to one or more of the hand guard, and commonly the threaded openings configured to cooperate with the fasteners, the fasteners themselves, the mating features associated with the contacting interfaces between the hand guard and the receiver and/or barrel or barrel nut, and/or deform of undesirably stress the structure of the hand guard. Commonly, the securing arrangement is provided as a compression arrangement that relies on the surface friction between the overlapping mating structures of the hand guard and the receiver, barrel nut, and/or barrel to maintain the desired orientation of the hand guard relative to the underlying firearm. Undesirable or unexpected loosening of the fasteners, unobserved debris associated with the attaining the initial interface, different rates of thermal expansion and contraction, as well as various other factors can detract from the ability to acquire and maintain a desired secure physical interaction between the hand guard and the underling barrel, barrel nut, and/or receiver.
Once assembled, small and sometimes imperceptible translations of the hand guard relative to the underlying firearm can detrimentally impact use of the underlying firearm. For instance, if sighting devices are supported by the hand guard, any movement of the hand guard relative to the underlying firearm can result in unacceptable inaccuracy associated with use of the firearm. When provided as a compression interface, the interface between the hand guard and firearm assembly associated with many hand guard mounting methodologies allows initial relative translation between the hand guard and the underlying firearm in both an axial direction or a direction generally aligned with the bore of the firearm, and a rotational direction relative to an axis commonly aligned with the bore. Ensuring accurate and repeatable use of the underlying firearm with respect to any accessories supported by the hand guard requires a secure mechanical connection therebetween and a connection that mitigates deformation of the structures associated with securing the hand guard to the underlying firearm. Arguably, although rotational translation of the hand guard relative to the underlying firearm can have a greater detrimental impact on repeatable and accurate use of the underlying firearm than true axial displacement of the hand guard relative to the receiver due to misalignments associated with sighting devices supported by the hand guard, any translation between the hand guard and the underlying firearm after assembly is undesired.
Therefore, there is a need for a firearm hand guard mounting arrangement that prevents over compression between the interfacing structures of the hand guard and the underlying barrel, barrel nut, and/or receiver to mitigate instances of overtightening of the fasteners associated with securing the band guard to the underlying firearm. There is a further need for a firearm hand guard mounting arrangement that prevents rotation of the hand guard relative to the underlying firearm once assembled.